


The Shift

by AmyJ10



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 07:05:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12906711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmyJ10/pseuds/AmyJ10
Summary: “Look, I’ve been thinking about what happened yesterday and you’re right, whatever it is that’s going on we need to talk about it.” (S/J)





	The Shift

**Author's Note:**

> This is something that has been on my mind for a while. I love early Daniel but I was disappointed by the shift in relationship with him and Sam and Jack after he returned in season 7 and I kind of wanted to address that here. I may have slightly over exaggerated here... Stay with me.

Daniel knocks on Sam’s front door for the third time. Something has been off between them for a little while but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. She’s been distant, and he’s found himself becoming less inclined to visit her in her lab and invite her to lunch. He’s spent more time with Vala and Mitchell than he had Sam over recent months and hadn’t even realised until yesterday that he hadn’t missed her. They had arranged to have coffee after a slightly tense exchange in front of Vala and Mitchell.

It had been something so small that had caused the pair to clash but once they got to that point neither one was willing to back down and it escalated into her telling him he was being “petty” and “ridiculous” and him storming out of the briefing room while their team mates looked on. 

Teal’c had tried to speak to them both separately once Vala had informed him of the altercation. He eventually convinced Sam to travel with him to Daniel’s office and she very coolly informed him that it was clear something was off between them and that they should sort it, for the teams’ sake. It was Daniel who suggested somewhere off base so there he was, on time, knocking on her door for the fourth time. 

“Coming!” Daniel rolls his eyes as he finally heard signs of life from within her house. He suddenly feels an ache in the pit of his stomach, when did he start to feel this frustrated with someone who had once been one of his best friends? He had avoided thinking about her last night, instead choosing to spend time with Teal’c, Vala and Mitchell. Mitchell had tried to call her to invite her but there had been no response, Daniel had been relieved. 

He starts to feel an ounce of guilt creeping into his subconscious. Had she avoided answering because of him? How had such a void appeared between them?

He’s shaken from his thoughts by Sam flinging open her front door, looking completely surprised to see him. “Daniel!” She calls, looking like she’s just woken up. 

“Uh, you said to come to you? Am I early?” He asks, knowing full well that he isn’t, his levels of frustration rising.

“Um, I said…” she trails off, seemingly racking her brain. 

Daniel watches as her face registers that he’s right and that she had clearly forgotten. “I said to come here,” she confirms. “Um-“

“Look, I’ve been thinking about what happened yesterday and you’re right, whatever it is that’s going on we need to talk about it.” His words are cold and he can’t hide the tone of annoyance, he’s still irritated with her after yesterday and now, here he is trying to sort it and she has seemingly forgotten all about it. 

“Daniel, I agree. It’s just-“

“Can I come in?” 

“Uh…” Sam hesitates, “We do need to talk, can I come and meet you somewhere? There’s a coffee place just around the corner,” she offers, slightly flustered. She had been thinking about this conversation for hours last night and she’s furious at herself for losing track of time. She wants to talk to Daniel, to really talk to him about what’s going on and why things have changed so dramatically. She looks up as Daniel shakes his head. 

“You asked me to come here,” he exclaims, no longer trying to hide his irritation. 

“I know it’s just-“

“You said we need to talk. Now I’m here and what? You have better things to do?” He’s surprised at how quickly his anger escalated. Months of frustration with his friend suddenly seem to boil over leading to him berating her as she’s stood at her front door. 

“Daniel, I’m sorry if you could just-“

“Clearly sorting this thing out isn’t important to you-“

“It is, I’m sorry I just need a few minutes to-“

“You know what? Let’s just forget it-“

“Daniel! Would you stop being an ass for a minute and let her talk?” 

Daniel watches as Sam visibly winces at the sound of a very familiar voice, her whole body tenses. His eyes widen as Jack O’Neill steps into his view, slightly behind Sam, wearing tshirt and boxer shorts. Daniel stares as Jack places his hand on Sam’s shoulder. He stares at Sam, taking in her full appearance for the first time since she’d opened the door, she’s dressed in only an oversized shirt; She’s staring at him like she’s lost for words. It’s suddenly clear why she had lost track of time. 

“This is my fault,” Jack tells him, “I came into town late last night, she didn’t know I was coming.”

After a few moments of silence Daniel speaks. “How long has this been going on?” 

“A while,” Jack offers, meeting Daniel’s gaze. 

“Right, of course it has…” he laughs, he should have known. 

“Is there a problem?” Jack asks, eyebrow raised, daring Daniel to start with him. 

“Jack-“ Sam starts, warning him to back down. “Daniel, we didn’t want you to find out like this-“

“Did you want me to find out at all?” Daniel shoots back, anger slowly bubbling in the pit of his stomach. 

“Not really-“

“Jack!” Sam warns again. “Daniel, why don’t you come in? We can talk-“

“Uh, I’m good.” He shakes his head and turns away from the pair. 

“What? That’s it? That’s what you have to say to us?” Jack asks, stepping out in front of Sam and closer to Daniel. 

“What do you want me to say Jack?” Daniel spins around to be faced with a furious Jack O’Neill. “Congratulations? Sure! Congratulations! I’m very happy that you finally fell into bed together! I hope it was great!”

“Hey! You watch your mouth!”

“Or what?” Daniel spits, feeling completely furious but not quite sure why. He watches as Sam reaches for Jack’s arm and pulls him closer to her. 

“Daniel, please just come in, let’s sit down and talk about this like adults... Like friends?” She begs, aware that they are causing a scene and that she and Jack are still trying to be discreet. 

“Friends?” Daniel laughs. “We’re not friends Sam, not anymore.” He turns and leaves, leaving Sam and Jack stood in her doorway. 

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

It’s hours later when he hears a knock on his door. He is sure it’s Jack coming to yell at him or punch him. He isn’t fully convinced that he doesn’t deserve either one. He’s shocked to find Sam stood in front of him looking nervous but determined. 

“Can I come in?” She asks as though she were speaking to a colleague, the warmth in her voice is gone. She steps in as Daniel nods and moves to allow her entrance. 

“I thought you would be Jack.” He states matter of factly. 

“Uh, no. That wouldn’t be a good idea right now.” Her tone tells him that Jack is furious with him. 

“So you’re his representative?” the words leave his mouth before he has the chance to think about how snarky it sounds. 

Sam spins on her heels with a frown. “Don’t do that,” she warns him. “Don’t use him to get at me.”

There’s a moment of silence before Daniel speaks. “Do you want something to drink?” 

“No,” she enters his living room and sits on the sofa that she has spent to many nights on as part of team nights or nights when she and Daniel had decided to spend their evenings together. It had happened a lot at the beginning, while he was coping with losing Sha’re. She had even slept on this thing more than a few times. How had things changed so much? 

“How long has it been going on?” Daniel asks, sitting across from Sam in his favourite chair. 

“Since he transferred to the Pentagon,” Sam answers, watching his reaction.

“Eight months?” 

“It uh, it didn’t happen right away… It took a little while for us to figure it all out.” She doesn’t know why she’s being so honest with him, he didn’t need to know these details and he certainly didn’t deserve to know them after his reaction. 

“It’s still a long time.” The hurt in his voice is clear. Eight months was a long time. “Does Teal’c know?” 

“We haven’t told him,” She offers, watching as Daniel tenses as she says ‘we’. “Is this really that big of an issue for you?” She asks, beginning to feel that coming here was a mistake, anger evident in her voice.

“You lying to me for eight months? Yes! That’s an issue for me, Sam!”

“I didn’t lie-“

“You didn’t tell the truth! And I’ve been wondering what could possibly have caused us to drift apart and here it is? You and Jack-“

“No! Daniel, we have been drifting apart for much longer than eight months. You don’t get to blame this on me and you don’t get to blame it on Jack either.” 

“Of course not, I can’t say a word against him now that you two are…” he hesitates, “I suppose it’s always been like that.”

“Daniel, don’t-“ Sam starts, knowing exactly what he’s about to say.

“No, it has. You backed every choice he’s ever made and he would never even consider disagreeing with you-“

“That’s not fair. We were military, he was my commanding officer-“

“Forbidden love, how moving.” 

Sam freezes at the cold tone of his voice. If he wanted to hurt her he’d done it. “When did you turn into such an ass?” She stands quickly, this was a mistake. Walking towards the door she stops as Daniel yells. 

“When did you stop caring about anyone who wasn’t Jack?” 

“That’s not true! You know that’s not true!” She spins to face him, her entire body tingling with anger that she has never felt before towards a friend. 

“You’re right! This isn’t just the last eight months it’s been the last eight years! And I said nothing! And here we are!” He’s shouting and he doesn’t care. “You were my friend! You and Jack were my best friends! You were all I had and then you two- you both- you-“

“What?”

“You two started whatever the hell you started-“

“We didn’t start anything!”

“That doesn’t mean it didn’t tear SG1 apart!” Daniel yells, only stopping when he sees the stunned, hurt look spread across Sam’s face. She takes a deep breath before she speaks.

“I did everything I could to stop it from interfering with the team.” Sam speaks in a low tone, worried about what will escae her lips if she doesn’t control herself. “Daniel,” she takes a deep breath, “you have to know that I did everything? The only thing left to do was take myself off of the team and I couldn’t do that-“

“Because you couldn’t be away from him,” he sighs, suddenly aware of how jealous he sounds. Was this jealousy? 

“From him, from you, from Teal’c. You’re my family and you were my best friend too!” She exhales, shocked that she and Daniel had been literally screaming at each other. 

“Daniel, is that really why that has happened to us?” she asks, no longer edging towards the door. She knows that he’s right, that the distance between them has been growing for a long time. She had felt it for years but had never really known how to address it, so she hadn’t, and here they were. 

They had had moments where it had felt like old times and they know each other well enough to function together as a part of SG1 so many hadn’t seemed to even notice. It had happened so slowly and built over such a long time they had both learnt to carry on despite it. Friends grow apart, things change. 

Daniel watches as Sam almost nervously places her hands in her pockets. He wonders if now is the time to really unpack everything that has caused them to reach this point. He takes a deep breath and begins at the point where he had felt the greatest shift in their relationship.

“When I, when I came back,” he starts, visibly upset at reliving his death. “When I came back you were so guarded, it took me a while to remember but even when I had you were so different.” They are stood by his front door, he’s still worried that she might walk out. “I was remembering all of these moments with you but it wasn’t like that when I came back.”

“Losing someone you love changes you.” She stuns him with her honesty. “Your death was one of the worst moments of my life, and I’d just started to deal with it and there you were, alive again. You didn’t know me, you didn’t know what we had been to each other and I didn’t want to push it. Then when you’d remembered it still felt… strange. Like you had immediately rebuilt your friendships with Teal’c and Jack but not me." She doesn't point out that while he was ascended he had visited both Jack and Teal'c but not her, when she was the one who had struggled with losing him the most.

Daniel watches as Sam struggles to compose herself. He isn’t as angry as he was but he knows that there is more for both of them to say.  
“It wasn’t easy for me Sam. I thought we were doing okay and on the surface we were but somehow we’ve become completely disconnected. I wish you’d tried just a little harder when I came back, as difficult as things were… I wish you’d fought a little harder.”

“I tried Daniel. It was a bad year,” she sighs. It was the year that she had lost Janet, regained a different, distant Daniel and had been struggling to deal with her feelings for Jack. It was also the year that she had met Pete. 

“Everything changed long before that Sam. We were a family, and then suddenly we weren’t. The thing with you and Jack… It changed everything.”

“Daniel,” she starts, unsure if she’s ready to hear what he has to say about this, even more unsure if she wants to relieve the painful years. 

“SG1 suddenly became you two and Teal’c and I were left on the outside. You were so caught up in how you felt about each other, it felt like you didn’t think about me or Teal’c.” He’s calmer now, but the resentment is still clear. 

“That’s not fair! You were all I thought about. Do you really think that I would have fought so hard to stay away from him if it wasn’t for the team?” She throws her hands into the air and he’s never seen her quite this animated.

“Your career-“

“That was only a part of it.” She raises her hand, essentially telling him to shut up. “Did I want to ruin my career? No. Did I want to ruin his reputation? No. But more than anything I wanted to keep us together, SG1. You think I would have held on this long if I hadn’t thought for you and Teal’c?”

“Sam, it took over the team. You were either not talking to each other or you were so close that I couldn’t get anywhere near you both. Every mission I was wondering if this would be the one where one of you snapped. Every briefing I was waiting to hear if you two had decided to go for it and split up the team. Do you know what that was like?” 

“Do I know what it was like?” Sam repeats her eyes wide. She hadn’t planned on airing everything but if Daniel is then she will too. “You’re acting like we did this on purpose. Like we didn’t do everything that we could to forget how we felt and to keep the team together?”

“I know you didn’t do it on purpose Sam, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t change everything between the four of us.”

“Daniel,” Sam exhales, “You have no idea how hard I tried to stop that from happening." She pauses, unsure if she should continue. She takes a deep breath and goes for it. "And you have no idea how hard it was Daniel, because you didn’t ask me, not once!” her voice shakes as she speaks, finally her own reasons for the resentment seeping out. She resents Daniel for placing the blame on her, he’s saying that she had been a bad friend but where had he been when she needed him? “You didn’t ask if I was okay? You knew what was happening and you ignored it. You could see that I was…” she takes a deep breath, “Daniel it was so hard, and you didn’t say a thing.” 

“I didn’t see it that way.” He admitted, suddenly feeling a little ashamed of himself. 

“How did you see it?” 

“Watching you… watching you falling in love with him was painful.” Daniel speaks slowly. “Painful at first because I had just lost the love of my life as you were finding yours, and then…” he takes a deep breath. “Then it was painful because I lost you, I lost you to him.”

“Daniel-“ She starts, a frown on her face. He can’t be saying what she thinks he’s saying. 

“I’m not saying I was in love with you. It wasn’t like that but I uh, I started to notice that every time I went to your lab he was already there. And if you were upset about something he would get to you before I could. The first few years had been easy, I was his friend and I was your friend but you two were colleagues. You came to me and I came to you and we’d talk all night sometimes, you confided in me and I confided in you but then, slowly you and Jack started to become friends and it obviously developed into more and you stopped confiding in me. I didn’t even know about what happened with the Zatarc testing until Teal’c told me. ”

“I couldn’t talk to you about that Daniel. I didn’t want to jeopardise the team, and I was trying to convince myself that it wasn’t happening.” 

“When Sha’re died SG1 helped me to hold it together and as horrific as losing her was I knew that I had you, Teal’c and Jack, we were a team. I guess it felt like he took my place as  
your friend because he couldn’t be anything else to you and I… suddenly I was on the outside. I chose to stop trying, and maybe I shouldn’t have done that but I was starting to resent Jack and resent you for not pushing him away and letting me in.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ She had never thought of it from Daniel’s point of view. He had been distant but she had been so preoccupied with not slipping with Jack that she had allowed them to drift apart. She had valued every conversation, moment and touch of comfort from Jack unaware that Daniel, who had been her comfort for years, was waiting in the wings. 

“And Jack? He was so closed off, he wouldn’t talk about anything. I did try to talk to him about it but he just got angry and he shut me out too. I lost you both before I died because you were trying so hard not to break the rules. But… I should have asked you. I knew you were suffering Sam, I did, but I was angry so I tried to ignore what was happening.” He takes a deep breath. “When you were missing, on the Prometheus, I knew he was going out of his mind, and I was too but I couldn’t talk to him about it. I spoke to him about it like we were all strangers because he’d shut me down so many times before. You two ignoring your feelings didn’t just impact you, it impacted Teal’c and I as well. It changed everything. I felt like I had nothing all over again.”

“Is that why you chose to ascend?” she asks, not sure she wants to know the answer.

“It’s a part of it,” he speaks softly. He watches as her shoulders slump. “SG1 wasn’t the same. But, it wasn’t just that. I don’t think I’d fully grieved for Sha’re, it’s difficult to do when you’re charging across the universe. It just… It didn’t feel like there was anything keeping me here anymore.” 

“Daniel, I’m so sorry.” Tears fill her eyes as she speaks. “I tried to protect you and Teal’c from what was happening, I know Jack did too. I thought that if we could just get through each mission without slipping, without putting you both in danger then maybe we could power through. I even thought maybe moving on with someone else would help?”

“He wasn’t right for you.” He had known this the moment that he had met Pete, she was settling. 

“You never said anything…”

“Would you have listened?” He had spoken to Teal’c and even Jack but didn’t feel like he was able to have that conversation with Sam. He should have.

“I don’t know. How did we mess this up so much?” Sam asks, shaking her head. 

“I was wrong. I should have spoken to you Sam. When I saw you were falling for Jack, I should have been the one that you could talk to about it. I should have spoken to you both. And Pete, I should have talked to you about that as well. The distance between us… It’s my fault.”

“It’s mine too. I never meant to hurt you Daniel. Falling in love with Jack, it wasn’t planned and I did everything I could to stop it.”

“I know, and I’m sorry that you had to do that on your own. I should have been there for you.”

“I should have been there for you too, I really love you, please tell me you know how important you are to me?” 

“I love you too, Sam.”

“Can we fix this?” She asks shakily as he pulls her into a hug. 

“We can try,” he whispers, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. Although a distance had grown he had always cared about her deeply, and Jack. They hadn’t been as close in later years but they were a damn good team and he still counted them as his friends. He hadn’t ever intended to share his resentment with them, nor had he expected to realise that he had let his friends down but here they are. He’s determined to make it right. 

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

“What do you want?” Jack asks coldly as Daniel walks into Sam’s living room. 

“Uh, to apologise actually.” He knows that Jack won’t want to hear much of what he has to say but he has to say it. “I was out of line earlier-“

“Damn right you were. Don’t you ever talk to her like that again.” Jack grits his teeth as he remembers Daniel’s line about them falling in to bed together. “You don’t know what it’s cost us to get to this point Daniel-“

“Actually I do, Sam explained it to me. I hadn’t realised it had been quite so difficult for you both. I talked to Sam and now I want to talk to you. I have been a bad friend to you both and I’m sorry.”

Jack raises his eyebrow, clearly ready for another fight. “What?”

“I felt left out for quite a long time and I picked it out on Sam, I’m surprised it’s taken so long to come to a head. I uh, I missed my friends. We,” he gestures to Jack, “managed to pull ourselves together more often than not, we still had a friendship but Sam and I, we suffered. There was a lot going on and I reacted badly.”

“I didn’t realise it was so bad between you both-“

“I don’t think either if us did. It was just a distance that became bigger and bigger over time. We still cared about each other, looked out for each other, we just… we just weren’t there for each other as much as we could have been.”

“I know what happened with me and Sam must have been hard on you and T. We tried-“

“I know. I know, Sam told me. We spoke, really spoke, for the first time in a long time and I get it. I didn’t get it at the time but I do now. You two must have been suffering for a really long time. I should have spoken to you about it, I should have tried to help you.”

“I’m not the easiest person to talk to.” Jack offers, almost moved by how honest Daniel is being. 

“I am happy for you both, I am. You deserve to be happy. I didn’t need to see you both in the middle of-“

“Okay, thank you.” Jack raises his hand to end the conversation. “Think we can fix this?” Jack asks, mirroring Sam’s question. 

“Yeah, I do. Starting with a visit to a place where the three of us were at our strongest. Sam’s waiting in the car.”

“Wait, O’Malleys?” Jack asks, “We’re banned from there forever?”

“There’s no harm in checking the place out-“

“Daniel, I don’t want to wake up in a cell.”

“Jack, where’s your sense of adventure?” He asks as he leads his friend out the door. “Sam was right, you’ve gone soft in your old age.”

“What! She said that?”

“Isn’t us talking properly great?” Daniel asks with a smug smirk. 

“I’ve changed my mind. Let’s fight again.”


End file.
